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Speaker Bio Page
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Roberto, James
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Jim Roberto is currently Director of Strategic Capabilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a Senior Vice President of UT-Battelle, LLC, the management and operating contractor for ORNL. He joined the Laboratory in 1974 after completing a PhD in applied physics from Cornell University and most recently served as ORNL’s Deputy for Science and Technology (2004-2009) and Associate Laboratory Director for Physical Sciences (1999-2004). His research interests include neutron and x-ray scattering, ion-surface interactions, materials for fusion reactors, and nanoscale science and technology. He is a former president of the Materials Research Society and has served on numerous National Research Council committees and testified before Congress on nanotechnology and energy-related issues. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the recipient of the 2004 National Materials Advancement Award from the Federation of Materials Societies.
Stults, Ray
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Ray Stults is the Associate Laboratory Director for Energy Sciences at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado. Dr. Stults is responsible for the fundamental research at NREL including: chemistry, biology, physics, scientific computing and materials science. He is the program manager for research at NREL sponsored by DOE’s Office of Science and he leads NREL’s expansion of basic research programs that underpin NREL’s applied research in solar, biomass, wind, buildings, and transportation. Dr. Stults develops and maintains effective business relationships with government and industry and works with NREL management and staff to maintain and strengthen established research programs in addition to developing new programs that meet U.S. energy demands.
Dr. Stults has more than thirty years of experience in conducting and managing research in industry and at four DOE National Laboratories. He received a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Nebraska in 1974 and completed a two-year post doctoral assignment at Texas A&M University under Professor F. A. Cotton. Joining the Central Research Laboratories of Monsanto Company in 1976, he advanced to the position of Monsanto Fellow before joining Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in 1986. Over his fifteen years at PNNL, Dr. Stults held several management positions and was a leader in the design and construction of a $230M national user facility, the Environmental Molecular Sciences laboratory (EMSL). Ray joined the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory as Associate Director for Science in 2000; transferred to Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2003 as Director for Office of Science Programs; and, assumed his NREL position in April of 2005.
A hallmark of Dr. Stults’ career has been the development and utilization of DOE national user facilities. In 1980, he began conducting research at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) was instrumental in the justification and construction of specialized beam-lines for environmental research at both the SSRL and Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source (APS). He led the development of PNNL’s proposal to DOE that resulted in the construction of the EMSL; he was instrumental in developing the capture strategy for Battelle’s winning proposal to manage and operate the Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and, he most recently led the effort to construct a new nano-scale science center at Los Alamos.
Tomalia, Robert
Central Michigan University
Dr. Donald Tomalia is the director of the National Dendrimer Center at Central Michigan University and a serial entrepreneur. During a long and successful career at Dow Chemical, his discovery of dendrimers (dentritic architecture) in 1979 led to his third R&D-100 Award in 1991 and the Leonardo da Vinci Award (Paris, France) in 1996. Dendritech, Inc., the first commercial producer of dendrimers, was co-founded by Dr. Tomalia in 1992, after which, he was named founding President and Chief Scientist (1992-2000). He became V.P. of Technology for MMI (1998-2000) while simultaneously serving as Scientific Director for the Biologic Nanotechnology Center, University of Michigan Medical School (1998-2000). Dr. Tomalia founded Dendritic Nanotechnologies, Inc. (DNT), Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, in a joint venture with Starpharma Pooled Development (Melbourne, Australia) (2002). Presently, he also serves as the DNT Principal Investigator in the Massachusetts Institute for Technology/Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (MIT/ISN) (2003). He is listed as the inventor of over 110 U.S. patents and is author/co-author of more than 200 peer-reviewed publications. Over 170 papers are focused in the dendrimer/dendritic polymer field, including a monograph entitled “Dendrimers and Other Dendritic Polymers” (J. Wiley) co-edited with J.M.J. Fréchet (2001). Dr. Tomalia serves as Associate Editor for Nanomedicine (Elsevier) (2006-present), editorial advisory board of Bioconjugate Chemistry (1999-present), and is a founding member of the editorial advisory board for NanoLetters (2000-2004).
Virden Jr., Jud W.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Dr. Jud Virden has been at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) since 1991 and currently serves as the Energy Sector Manager for the Energy and Environment Directorate. The energy sector includes more than $100 million of advanced energy research in technology areas for clients that include DOE’s offices of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fossil Energy, Nuclear Energy and Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, as well as industry. Until Oct. 1, 2007, Dr. Virden was Deputy Associate Laboratory Director for the Energy Science and Technology Directorate and Director of Energy Programs Business Development.
Prior to his most recent roles at PNNL, Dr. Virden was responsible for the Laboratory’s transportation programs. From 1999 to 2002, he was responsible for growing and developing government-sponsored and private research in the areas of advanced lightweight metal forming, fuel reformation, sensor development and advanced exhaust after-treatment devices. Dr. Virden also served a two-year assignment in Flint, Michigan as a PNNL employee working with General Motors, Ford and Chrysler and the United States Council of Automotive Research. In this assignment, he was responsible for initiating and developing multiple government/industry projects focused on advanced technology development. Dr. Virden served as co-chair for the 21st Century Truck Partnership National Laboratory Council, which is responsible for developing long-range technology goals for more efficient heavy vehicles. From 1996 to 1999, Dr. Virden was the technical group leader of the Colloids and Materials Design Group in the Materials Resource Unit at PNNL. Dr. Virden has numerous technical publications and presentations. He has been awarded an R&D 100 Award and a Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for work on the development of non-thermal plasma technology, a Discover Award with Massachusetts Institute of Technology for fuel reformation technologies, and contributed to a Financial Times Global Automotive Award for PNNL’s contributions to Delphi’s development of nonthermal plasma technology for automotive applications. He holds two U.S. Patents.
Before joining PNNL, Dr. Virden worked in the Science Research Laboratory at the 3M Company in St. Paul, Minnesota and was responsible for the development of ordered organic thin films for nonlinear optical applications.
He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering (1991) from the University of Washington and is a current Board Member for the American Council for an Energy-Efficiency Economy.
Yang, Rosa
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
Rosa Yang is Vice President, Innovation at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). She joined EPRI in 1987 as a Project Manager in the Light Water Reactor Fuel Program, focusing her research activities on fuel design, fuel failure investigation, corrosion, and the impact of plant operation on fuel performance. In 1998, Yang established EPRI’s Fuel Reliability Program, with participants from more than 10 countries and 30 nuclear utilities.
As Director of the Materials and Chemistry Department within EPRI’s Nuclear Power Sector, Yang guided research activities designed to enhance scientific understanding of nuclear issues, and to improve the safe, reliable and economic operation of nuclear power reactors. With a multi-disciplined technical staff of more than 50 and a diverse $55M per year research portfolio, she lead research activities in boiling water reactor and pressurized water reactor materials aging and degradation, water chemistry control, fuel performance and reliability, spent fuel storage, high and low-level waste disposal, and radiation control.
Before joining EPRI, Yang worked for General Electric, where she developed the company’s fuel design and licensing code. She also served as the technical lead for several internationally sponsored fuel testing programs. Yang holds a Bachelor of Science in nuclear engineering from the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, and a Master of Science and doctorate in nuclear engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. Yang is a frequent guest speaker and published author on nuclear fuel and materials technology issues. She has delivered featured presentations at numerous key industry events, including the International Light Water Reactor Fuel Performance Meeting, Annual American Nuclear Society Meeting, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Regulatory Information Conference.
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